Settable typesetting means in data printing mechanisms



March 12, 1957 D. BROlDO 2,784,567

SETTABLE TYPESETTING MEANS IN DATA PRINTING MECHANISM? Filed March 25,1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTOR paw/4 Bko/p ATTORNEY D. BROIDO March 12,1957 SETTABLE TYPESETTING MEANS IN DATA PRINTING MECHANISMS Filed March25, 1955 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR Zia/var; 5190/00 ATTORNEY March 12,1957 0. BROIDO 2,734,667

S ETTABLE TYPESETTING MEANS IN DATA PRINTING MECHANISMS Fiied March 25.1955 Y 5 Shee ts-Sheet 3 ATTORNEY March 12, 1957 D. BROIDO SETTA-BLETYPESETTING MEANS IN DATA PRINTING MECHANISMS Filed. March 25, 1955 5Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTQR paw/4 B/Po/po ATTORNEY D. BROIDO March 12,, 1957SETTABLEI TYPESETTING MEANS IN DATA PRINTING MECHANISMS 5 Sheets-Sheet 5INVENTOR I Dfi/V/E 3)? 0/0 0 Filed March 25, 1955 Y I ATTORNEY SETTABLETYPESETTING MEANS IN DATA PRINTING MECHANISMS Daniel Broido,Cockfosters, England, assignor to The British Tabulating Machine CompanyLimited, London, England Application March25, 1955, Serial No. 496,872

Claims priority, application Great Britain June 13, 1955 12 Claims. (Cl.101--93) This invention relates to printing apparatus, of the kind inwhich a type bearing member is selectively positioned under control ofelements set in accordance with a combinational character representingcode.

An object of the invention is to provide a printing a plurality of latchpawls, means for operating the latch pawls in accordance with anadditive combinational code, a latch releasable by each latch pawl, anoperating pawl settable by each latch, a plurality of setting bars, atype bearing member, links connecting the setting bars together and tothe type bearing member, means for moving all the operating pawls afixed distance, each set operating pawl moving a setting bar a fixeddistance, the links transmitting the additive movement of the settingbars to the type bearing member to bring the type charactercorresponding to the combination of operated latch pawls opposite aplaten, and means for printing the selected character. In a multi-columnprinting mechanism, the corresponding latch pawls in two or more columnshave a common operating means, and means are provided for making theoperating means etfective sequentially for the different columns.

The invention will now be described, by way of example, with referenceto the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figures 1 and 2 taken together constitute a sectional side elevation ofthe printing mechanism;

Figure 3 is an end elevation of the printing mechanism;

Figure 4 is a sectional plan view showing the sequence bars;

Figure 5 is a detail perspective view of part of the resetting frame;

Figure 6 is a detail View showing the hammer operating mechanism.

The invention will be described as applied to a multi- The positioningof a type bar to print a selected character is controlled by fourelectromagnets. Four of the Stte Patent type bars are controlled bymagnets 4A, 4B, 4C and 4D er- 2,784,667 .1 Cg Patented Mar. 12, 1957Digit 01234567891011 Magnets A B AB C CA CB CAB D DA DB DAB The codingis additive, in that the components, A, B, C and D have the fixed values1, 2, 4 and 3 respectively, and the value of each combination is the sumof the component values.

The type bar may be moved either up or down from the reset position,depending upon which character is selected. This arrangement simplifiesthe setting mechanism and also reduces the maximum travel ofthe bar fromthe reset position. From the coding and the arrangement of the typeslugs, it will be appreciated that the movements of the type bareifected under control of the magnets A, B, C and D will be 1, 2, 4 and4 units respectively, the negative sign indicating downward movement ofthe type bar.

The movement of each type bar is determined by three setting bars 5, 6and 7. The setting bars are limited to vertical movement by four guideplates 8, which are fixed between side plates 9 of the printingmechanism. The bars 6 and 7 are pulled upward against adjustable stops11 by springs 10. The bar 5 is positioned by two arms 12, which engagepins 14 on the bar 5. The two arms are drawn together by a spring 13,but their movement is limited by their engagement with adjustable stops15. This allows the bar 5 to be moved either up or down from the normalposition.

The forked ends of a link 23 engage rotatable studs 16 and 17, which arecarried by the bars 6 and 7 respectively. A link 18 is pivotallyconnected to the link 23 at a point which is distance from the stud 16by an amount equal to one third of the separation of the studs 16and 17.The link 18 is guided for vertical movement by one of the plates 8, andby a further plate 19.

This link 18 and the type bar I carry studs 20 and 22 respectively.These are engaged by the forked ends of a link 21. The link 21 ispivotally attached to the setting bar 5. This pivot point is one quarterof the way along the link and is nearer to the link 18. t

The links 18, 21 and 23 transmit any movement of the setting bars 5, 6and 7 to the type bar 1. Suppose that the bar 7 alone is moved downwardsone unit, that is, a distance equal to that between adjacent slugs 2.The spring 10 will hold the bar 6 stationary, so that the link 23 willact as a lever fulcrummed on the bar 6. The slide 18 will be moved onethird of a unit. The bar 5 is held by the arms 12, so that the link 21acts as a lever with a ratio of 3: 1, and the type bar will therefore bemoved one unit.

When the setting bar 6 alone is moved one unit, the slide 18 will movetwo thirds of a unit, so that the type bar is moved two units.

When the bar 5 is moved alone, the slide 18 is held by the bars 6 and 7and the link 23, so that the link 21 acts as a lever with a ratio of4:1, and the type bar is moved four units. If more than one setting baris moved, then the movement of the type bar is the sum of the movementsdue to the individual bars.

The selected character is accurately aligned by an aligning bail 24(Figure 1), the nose of which is held lightly against a toothed plate25, which is attached to the type bar, by a spring 26.

The three setting bars 5, 6 and 7, for any particular type bar, areselected and moved in essentially the same way. The magnet 4A (Figure 2)is shown with the armature attracted, which rocks upwards the end of alatch pawl 27, against the pull of a spring 35. This movement disengagesthe pawl 27 from a three-armed latch 28. The latch 28 is urged clockwiseby a spring 30, but is normally retained both by the latch pawl 27, andby a lug 29 on a sequence bar 36, which engages the second arm of thelatch. If the sequence bar is moved to the left, the lug 29 ispositioned so that the latch 28 is free to move if the latch pawl 27 isoperated.

The third arm of the latch normally engages an operating pawl 31. If'thelatch rotates clockwise, the operating pawl is released and also movesclockwise under the action of a spring 32. This movement of theoperating pawl brings a notch 33 thereon into engagementwith a lug 34which is fixed to the setting bar 7, as shown in Figure 2.

The magnet 4A can be tie-energised and the sequence bar 36 returned tothe right. This willre-engage the latch 28 with the latch pawl 27,leaving the operating pawl'31 in the operated position. If the magnets4A and 4D, for example, are now operated, the latch pawls 27 willrelease the latches, but the latches will stillbe held by the lugs 29,as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

The operating pawl 31 is pivoted on a spindle 37, which is carried in abox frame formed by two side plates 38 (Figures 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5) andtwo end plates 39. The twoside plates 38 have upper and lower extensionswhich are engaged by rollers 49, to guide the frame vertically. Thelower extensions of the plates 38 are connected by a shaft carryingrollers 43, which are engaged by the forked end of arms 44. The arms 44are secured to 'a shaft .45 which is journalled in the side plates 9.

An arm 50 is secured to one end of the shaft 45. The other end of thearm carries a roller 46, which runs in an internal cam track on a cam47. The, cam 47 is mounted on a shaft 48, which is continuously driventhrough chains and sprockets 51 (Figure 4). When the printing mechanismis used for printing data from record cards, the shaft 45. is driven insynchronism with the card feeding mechanism, so that it revolves oncefor each card fed.

At a time after the operating pawls have been set, the cam 47 drives thearm 50 (Figure 1) clockwise through such an angle that the frame 38 and39 is moved downward one unit. This carries the operating pawls 31 down,and consequently the setting bar 7 is also forced down. As alreadyexplained, this will. move the type bar 1 up one character from thereset position; When the selected character has been positioned, ahammer 52 is rocked forward to impel the slug against the platen.

The. end plates 39-of the box frame have extension brackets which carryadjustable stop screws 41. At the extreme positions of the frame, thesestops engage bars 40 which are supported by rubber shock absorbingmembers .142, so that the movement of the frame is cushioned- Thearrangement of pawls and latches for the magnets 4B and 4D is similar tothat for the magnet 4A. In the case of, the magnet 4C, the operatingpawl engages one end-of a lever 53. The lever 53 is pivoted on a spindle54 which is journalled in brackets attached to the side plates '9; Theother end of the lever 53 is forked to engage a pin 55 on the settingbar 5. The ratio of the lever 53 is 1:1, so that if the magnet 4C isenergised,'the bar 5 will be moved up one unit by the downward movementof the box frame.

As the box frame rises, the operated setting bar or bars are returned totheir reset position, but they are stilllengaged by the operating pawls.Re-engage ment of the operating pawls with their latches is effected bya resetting frame comprising side plates 56 joined by four rods 57(Figures 1, 2, 4 and 5).

The resetting frame is supported by two short links 58 andtwolong links59, which are pivotally attached to the side plates 38'of the box frameby studs 60 and'to the plates 56 by studs 70. The upper ends of the longlinks 59 are forked to engage pins 61 on a resetting bar 62 (Figure 4).The resetting frame is normally urged towards the left, as seen inFigure 1, by a spring 69 (Figure 4), which pulls the bar 62 in the samedirection.

The bar 62 also carries a pin 63 which is engaged by the forked end ofan arm 64, which is freeto rotate-on a shaft 65. A further arm isattached to the arm 64. This further arm carries a cam'roller 67, whichrides on the periphery of a cam 68. The cam 68 is secured to the shaft48, and therefore makes one revolution for each printing operation. Thearm 64 is urged in a clockwise direction by a spring (not shown).After'the box frame has been returned, a low point on the cam 68 causesthe arm 66 and 64 to move further in a clockwise direction, thusshifting the bar 62 and the resetting frame to "the right. The four rods57 engage any set operating pawls and rotate them a small amount so thatthey are reengaged by the latches. then move the rod 62 back to theleft.

So far the construction and operation of the mechanism for one type barhas been described. It was-noted that each group of four magnets forthe'compenentsm B, C and D control the'character selection for four typebars. This is effected through the use of four pairs of sequence bars.When considering the release of the latch- 28 by the latch pawl 27(Figure 2), it was pointed out that this could not occur unless thesequence bar .42 had been shifted to the left. The latch pawls for fouradjacent columns are all operated simultaneously by the energisation ofthe magnet, for example, magnet 4A, but only one latch is released, thatfor which the sequence bar has been moved to the right.

All the sequence bars are urged towards the right by The other sequencebar 42' of the pair is joined to the bar 42 by a rod 78, so that the twobars move together. Each bar has four lugs 29, so that the laltches forthe first and fifth'colurnns will be freed for control by the latchpawls when the bars move to the left. The latch pawls for the firstcolumn are controlled by the magnets 4A, 4B, 4C and 4D,'whilst those forthe fifth column are-con.- trolled by the magnets 4A, 4B, 4C and 4D, so.thatthe operating pawls for the first and fifth columns may be setsimultaneously, but independently, in accordance with any desiredcharacters. The magnets are now de-eners. gised and the cam 77 allowsthe bars 42 and 42' to move back to the right.

The sequence bars for the second and sixth columns are joined by a rod79 and are controlled by a cam '80. This cam is timed to allow this pairof bars to move to the left just after the bar 42 returned to the right.Thus the two groups of magnets may be energised again to set theoperating pawls for two more columns.

The next pair of sequence bars to operate are joined by a rod 81 and arecontrolled by a cam 82 The last pair of bars are joined by a rod 83 andare controlled by a cam 84.

After the last pair of sequence bars has operated, the

operating pawls in all the eight columns will have been set asnecessary. In fact, they are not only the means for operating'thesetting bars, but they also provide the ting frame resets the operatingpawls and the mechanism is then ready for a new cycle.

The details of the hammer operating mechanism have been omitted from themain drawings of the printing The cam 68 and the'spring6 9- grease? Asprocket 85 is secured to the shaft 48 and drives a t sprocket 86through a chain. The sprocket 86 is secured to a shaft 87, which alsocarries a cam 88. As the cam rotates in a clockwise direction, itengages a block 89 on a pivoted plate 90 and turns the plateanti-clockwise.

When the block 89 drops oil the high point of the cam 88, the plate 90is returned by a spring 91. During the return movement a hammer bail 92which is carried by the plate 90 engages all the hammers 52 and impelsthem forward, against spring tension, to strike the slugs 2 which arealigned with the printing line.

The cam 88is also engaged by a roller 93 which is mounted on an arm 94.This arm is secured to a shaft 95 to which are also secured the armswhich support the aligning bail 24. The cam timing is such that the bail24 is lifted out of contact with the plates 25 on the type bars duringthe time when the type bars are being set. The bail 24 is re-engagedwith the plates 25 before the hammen; are operated.

In order to check that the setting bars have been correctly operated,four contacts sets 96, 97, 98 and 99 (Figures 1 and 2) are provided foreach column. The contacts 96 are closed by a lug on the bar 7 when itmoves. The contacts 97 are closed by a lug on the bar 18 when it movesmore than one third of a unit, that is, when the bar 6 has moved. Thecontacts 98 and 99 are closed when the bar moves down and uprespectively.

If the data which is to be printed is held in a storage device of somekind, then the settings of the contacts are compared with the settingsof the storage device. If the data is entered on a pair of channelssequentially, then two additional groups of four magnets are connectedin parallel with the magnets 4. These additional magnets control pawlsand latches in the same way as the magnets 4, but each operating pawl isreleased to close a pair of contacts instead of to engage a setting bar.These latter contacts are then compared with the check contacts foridentity of setting. The release of the latches is sequenced byextensions of the existing sequence bars. The occurrence of an errorcauses the circuit of a motor driving the shaft 48 to be broken.

The checking for correct operation does not take place until after thesetting bars have been moved. In the case of the bar 5 it is alsonecessary to ensure that both of the magnets 40 and 4D are not energisedat the same time, as they control positive movement of the bar inopposite directions.

One end of a link 100 (Figure 1) is pivotally attached to the latch pawl27 of the magnet 4D. The other end of the link 100 is attached to a link101, which is pivoted on the same spindle as the latch pawl of themagnet 4C. When the magnet 4D is energised, a depending portion 102 ofthe link 100 is shifted so that it prevents movement (it the latch pawlof the magnet 4C as shown in Figure 1. A similar arrangement, which hasbeen omitted for the sake of clarity, is operated by the magnet 4C tolock the latch pawl of the magnet 4D.

Although the setting bars have been shown as controlling a type bar,they could equally well set a print wheel. For this purpose, the typebar 1 is replaced by a rack bar which engages either with teeth cut inthe periphery of the print wheel, or with a pinion secured to the printwheel.

What I claim is:

1. A printing mechanism comprising a plurality of latch pawls, means foroperating said latch pawls in accordance with an additive combinationalcode, a plurality of latches each releasable by a different one of saidlatch pawls, a plurality of operating pawls each settable by a differentone of said latches in its released condition, a plurality of settingbars each movable over a fixed distance by a diiferent one of saidoperating pawls in its set condition, a type-bearing member, linksconnecting said settings bars together and to said type-bearing memberso as to transmit movement of said setting bars additively to saidtypebearing member, means for moving all said operating pawls a fixeddistance so as to move those setting bars associated with operatingpawls which are in their se't condition and thus to bring the typecharacter corresponding to the combination of operated latch pawls intoprint ing position, and means for printing the type character soselected. 7

2. A multi-column printing mechanism having for each column a pluralityof latch pawls, a latch releasable by each latch pawl when operated, anoperating pawl settable by each latch, a plurality of setting bars, atype bearing member, links connecting the setting bars together and tothe type bearing member to form an additive differential linkage, meanscommon to two or more columns for operating the latch pawls inaccordance with an additive combinational code, sequencing means fornormally preventing the operation of the latch pawls by said commonmeans, means for operating the sequencing means to allow operation ofthe latch pawls column by column, means for moving all the operatingpawls a fixed distance, each set operating pawl moving a setting bar afixed distance, the links transmitting the movement of the setting barsto the type bearing member to bring the type character corresponding tothe combination of operated latch pawls opposite a platen, and means forprinting the selected character.

3. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 having means for resetting all thelatches of a column, and further means for resetting all the operatingpawls of a column.

4. Apparatus as claimed in claim 3 having a driving frame carrying theoperating pawls, means for moving the driving frame said fixed distance,a resetting frame carried by said driving frame and movable relative toit, resetting means mounted on the resetting frame, and means for movingthe resetting frame to bring the resetting means into engagement withthe operating pawls.

5. Apparatus as claimed in claim 4 in which the type bearing member isadapted to be moved in either of two directions from a normal resetposition, depending upon which character has been selected.

6. Apparatus as claimed in claim 5 having three setting bars and fouroperating pawls for a column, and means for controlling the movement ofa first one of said setting bars by either one of two operating pawls,one of said two pawls moving the first bar said fixed distance in onedirection and the other of said two pawls moving the first bar saidfixed distance in the opposite direction.

7. Apparatus as claimed in claim 6 in which the ratios of the linksconnecting the setting bars and the type hearing member are such thatmovement of the first setting bar causes the type bearing member to bedisplaced four character positions on either side of the reset position,and that movement of the other two setting bars causes displacements oftwo character positions and one character position respectively.

8. Apparatus as claimed in claim 7 wherein the movement of the firstsetting bar in one or the other direction causes the type bearing memberto be displaced so as to bring the character associated with value 4 or8, respectively, into the printing position, and wherein the movement ofthe other two setting bars in said one direction causes the type bearingmember to bring the character associated with value 1 or 2,respectively, into the printing position, whereby the combined movementsof more than one setting bar cause the type bearing member to bring intothe printing position the character associated with the value equal tothe arithmetic sum of the above values, respectively.

9. Apparatus as claimed in claim 2 having a group of electromagnets,each electromagnet operating the corresponding latch pawls in two ormore columns, a sequence bar for each column which normally holds allthe latch pawls of the column against operation, means for retractlatch:pawls foroper'ation, and means for returningeach" sequence bar to thenormal position before the next sequence bar is retracted.

10. Apparatus as claimed in claim 9 having two' or more groups ofelectromagnets and meansfor simultaneously retracting two or moresequence bars, to allow each group of electromagnets to control thelatch pawls for one column at a time.

11. Apparatus as claimed in claim 10 having a con- 10 stantly rotatingshaft and'a plurality of cams mounted thereon for controlling theretraction and return of the sequence bars.

8. 12.- Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 having further cams mounted onsaid shaft for controlling the movement and resetting of the operatingpaw-ls.

References Cited in the file'of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,077,962 Smith Apr. 20, 1937 2,077,963 Smith Apr. 20, 1937 2,077,964Smith Apr. 20, 1937 2,077,965 Smith Apr. 20, 1937 2,293,713 Connor Aug.25, 1942 2,297,803 Scheerer Oct. 6, 1942 2,709,959 Beattie June 7, 1955

